The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team (12-6, 8-1 Big East) fell in the Big East semifinals to Denver (12-6, 6-3 Big East) by a score of 12-7. Sophomore attacker Michaela Bruno found the net twice for the Hoyas, who were aided by 15 saves from junior goalkeeper Haelle Chomo, but Denver junior midfielder Elizabeth Behrins scored four goals to eliminate the Blue and Gray.
After an early goal from junior attacker Taylor Gebhardt gave the Hoyas a 1-0 lead, Denver scored five unanswered goals in the space of 13 minutes to give them some breathing room. Behrins and freshman attacker Quintin Hoch-Bullin each scored twice in the run, but it was eight first half saves from sophomore goalkeeper Carson Gregg that kept the Pioneers in the lead in a Georgetown-dominated first half.
The Hoyas managed 15 first half shots to Denver’s 11, and a 3-0 spurt to end the first half brough the Hoyas within striking distance, as the teams went into the break with Denver leading 5-4. Within the first eight minutes of the second half, sophomore midfielder Liza Liotta scored to tie the game at seven, but from there, the Pioneers took over.
Denver controlled 17 of 21 ground balls in the second half and outshot Georgetown 21-5, forcing 11 saves from Chomo. The Pioneers finished the game with five unanswered goals to advance to the final, while the Hoyas were left licking their wounds.
Despite the loss, Head coach Ricky Fried’s team is one of three teams from the Big East to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament along with Denver and automatic qualifiers No. 9 Florida (16-3, 9-0 Big East). The Hoyas first round game is at No. 12 Virginia Tech (13-6, 5-2 ACC), who finished third in the ACC regular season and fell to No. 5 North Carolina (15-3, 6-1 ACC) in the conference semifinal. The game will begin at 3:00 p.m. on May 11 in Raleigh, and the winner will face tournament two-seed North Carolina on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for updates on women’s lacrosse’s progress through the NCAA tournament and the rest of the spring sports at Georgetown.
